Exploring Baseball History
@bballhist
Used to write a blog on past, present, and future of baseball. On the Professor-Consultant-Teacher pipeline. Baltimore Elite Giants fan. Charlie Keller stan. SABR member.
Here are the top 5 according to Fangraphs (with other stats included)
In both 1912 and 1913, the Philly A's had the best 1B (McInnis), 2B (Collins), and 3B (Baker) in baseball. In 1913, they had the best SS (Barry) in the AL with only Art Fletcher and Pop Lloyd standing between the A's as having the best IF at each position. A famous infield living up to its name!
In 1899, John McGraw's SLG was more than 100 points lower than his OBP. However, this wasn't a big problem as he still had a .446 SLG. Its just that his OBP FIVE FORTY SEVEN!!!! It was all good for a 178 wRC+!!! I think we all forget just how good of a PLAYER John McGraw was.
In 1889, 3 HOF 1B (Anson, Brouthers, Connor) were in their prime but the best was 25yo Tommy Tucker. Tucker led the league in H, AVG, OBP, bWAR, OPS, OPS+, and HBP. He would play until 1899 and never lead the league in anything again. He never had a 2 WAR season from 1891-99. I love baseball.
Got a 71 win team on my first try! Got lucky to get CLE 2010s on my last spin.
One reason this exercise is so fun is Lew Brown. Cal McVey and Deacon White have been dominating the C position and there are young King Kelly and Charlie Bennett kicking around. But Brown hit .305/.324/.435, a 141 wRC+. Its his only really good year outside of the UA. 1878 is the Lew Brown year!
Ross Barnes was the best 2B in each of the first 6 years of major league baseball. He was also the best overall player during this time. In 1876, he was worth 6.6 fWAR in a 66 game season! That is 15.4 WAR in a 154 game season! Ross Barnes belongs in the Hall of Fame.
My 1870s team: C Deacon White 1B Cal McVey 2B Ross Barnes 3B Cap Anson SS George Wright OF Paul Hines OF Jim O'Rourke OF Lip Pike DH Charley Jones SP Spalding, Bond, McBride, Zeitlein, Devlin
My 1880s team: C Charlie Bennett 1B Roger Connor 2B Fred Dunlap 3B Ned Williamson SS Jack Glasscock OF Harry Stovey OF King Kelly OF Pete Browning DH Dan Brouthers SP Keefe, Galvin, Clarkson, Radbourn, Caruthers
My 1890s team: C Jack Clements 1B Roger Connor 2B Cupid Childs 3B George Davis SS Hughie Jennings OF Ed Delahanty OF Billy Hamilton OF Joe Kelley DH Dan Brouthers SP Nichols, Young, Rusie, Hutchinson, Stovey
My 1900s team: C Roger Bresnahan 1B Frank Chance 2B Nap Lajoie 3B Bill Bradley SS Honus Wagner OF Elmer Flick OF Pete Hill OF Fred Clarke DH Sam Crawford SP Young, Mathewson, Waddell, Plank, Munoz
My 1910s team: C Louis Santop 1B Ben Taylor 2B Eddie Collins 3B Frank Baker SS John Henry Lloyd OF Ty Cobb OF Tris Speaker OF Joe Jackson DH Babe Ruth SP Johnson, Alexander, Williams, Redding, Mendez
My 1920s team: C Biz Mackey 1B Lou Gehrig 2B Rogers Hornsby 3B John Beckwith SS John Henry Lloyd OF Babe Ruth OF Oscar Charleston OF Charlie Smith DH Harry Heilmann SP Vance, Rogan, Winters, Grimes, Rixey
My 1930s team: C Josh Gibson 1B Lou Gehrig 2B Charlie Gehringer 3B Jud Wilson SS Willie Wells OF Babe Ruth OF Mel Ott OF Turkey Stearns DH Jimmie Foxx SP Left Grove, Carl Hubbell, Satchel Paige, Ray Brown, Wes Ferrell
My 1940s team: C Josh Gibson 1B Johnny Mize 2B Joe Gordon 3B Jud Wilson SS Monte Irvin OF Joe Dimaggio OF Ted Williams OF Stan Musial DH Willard Brown SP Newhouser, Feller, Paige, Byrd, Leonard RP Joe Page
My 1950s team C Yogi Berra 1B Stan Musial 2B Jackie Robinson 3B Eddie Mathews SS Ernie Banks OF Willie Mays OF Mickey Mantle OF Ted Williams DH Hank Aaron SP Roberts, Spahn, Newcombe, Pierce, Ford RP Roy Face
My 1960s Team: C Joe Torre 1B Harmon Killebrew 2B Pete Rose 3B Ron Santo SS Jim Fregosi OF Frank Robinson OF Willie Mays OF Hank Aaron DH Mickey Mantle SP Gibson, Bunning, Marichal, Koufax, Drysdale RP Hoyt Wilhelm
My 1970s team: C Johnny Bench 1B Rod Carew 2B Joe Morgan 3B Mike Schmidt SS Bert Campaneris OF Pete Rose OF Reggie Jackson OF Reggie Smith DH Willie Stargell SP Seaver, Perry, Jenkins, Carlton, Blyleven RP Rollie Fingers
My 1980s team: C Gary Carter 1B Keith Hernandez 2B Ryne Sandberg 3B Wade Boggs SS Cal Ripken Jr. OF Rickey OF Robin Yount OF Tim Raines DH Mike Schmidt SP Ryan, Blyleven, Stieb, Clemens, Gooden RP Dan Quisenberry
Inspired by SABR's eras team, here is my 1990s team: C Mike Piazza 1B Jeff Bagwell 2B Craig Biggio 3B Edgar (cheating?) SS Barry Larkin OF Barry Bonds OF Ken Griffey Jr. OF Kenny Lofton DH Frank Thomas SP Johnson, Clemens, Maddux, Pedro, Brown RP Dennis Eckersley
Inspired by SABR's Eras teams, here is my 2000s team: C Joe Mauer 1B Albert Pujols 2B Chase Utley 3B ARod SS Derek Jeter OF Barry Bonds OF Chipper Jones OF Carlos Beltran DH Manny Ramirez SP Unit, Pedro, Halladay, Johan, Schilling RP Mariano Rivera
Inspired by SABR Eras teams, my all-2010s team: C Buster Posey 1B Miguel Cabrera 2B Robinson Cano 3B Josh Donaldson SS Francisco Lindor OF Andrew McCutcheon OF Mike Trout OF Mookie Betts DH Joey Votto SP Kershaw, Verlander, Scherzer, Sale, Greinke RP Craig Kimbrel Thoughts?
My top NeL SP: 1 Joe Williams (15th all-time) 2 Satchel Paige (22) 3 Ray Brown (36) 4 Bullet Rogan (40) 5 Dick Redding (42) 6 Martin Dihigo (46) 7 Jose Mendez (61) 8 Ramon Bragana (66) 9 Jose Munoz (75) 10 Lino Dinoso (97) 11 Bill Byrd (100) 12 Barney Brown (105) 13 Terris McDuffie (110) Cont.
My top 10 NeL RF: 1 Charlie Smith (19th all-time) 2 Oscar 'Heavy' Johnson (29) 3 Hurley McNair (36) 4 Burnis 'Wild Bill' Wright (40) 5 Rap Dixon (49) 6 Ed Stone (78) 7 Charlie Blackmon (79) 8 Ted Strong (83) 9 Ed Steele (86) 10 Claro Duany (100)
My top 10 NeL CF: 1 Oscar Charleston (6th all-time) 2 Turkey Stearnes (9) 3 Cristobal Torriente (12) 4 Monte Irvin (14) 5 Martin Dihigo (18) 6 Willard Brown (21) 7 Bullet Rogan (22) 8 Lazaro Salazar (26) 9 Pete Hill (27) 10 Alejandro Oms (36) All should be in the HoF!
My top 10 NeL LF: 1 Fats Jenkins (53rd all-time) 2 Agustin Bejerano (65) 3 Roy Parnell (74) 4 Johnny Davis (81) 5 Jimmie Lyons (84) 6 Bill Hoskins (89) 7 Wade Johnston (101) 8 Vic Harris (104) 9 Valentin Dreke (114) 10 Clint Thomas(143)
My top 10 NeL C: 1 Josh Gibson (1st all-time) 2 Biz Mackey (15) 3 Louis Santop (36) 4 Quincey Trouppe (41) 5 Frank Duncan (83) 6 Tom Young (89) 7 John Ritchey (101) 8 Doc Wiley (112) 9 Ray Noble (114) 10 Mitchell Murray (115)